what Time took
by Insane. Certifiably
Summary: In every lifetime, in every quest, no matter who surrounds him, the hero walks alone. A series of goodbyes. Latest chapter: Medli "by calling"
1. Zelda: by decree

**For Tiger gamer, who requested Zelda stay a princess. An alternate ending to wolves.**

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><p>"Zelda," called a man, sticking his head around the door. "They're almost ready to start."<p>

"I'm coming," the princess replied, not removing her gaze from the mirror.

"What are you worrying about, princess?" he asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, "you'll be great. Hyrule will never have a better queen."

"I know," Zelda sighed, "I was just thinking back on everything that happened to bring me here."

"We need to go out now," he told her, releasing her after one last kiss pressed to her cheek. He crossed the room and held the door for her like the properly bred prince he was.

Zelda took one last look in the mirror before following him out.

She remembered very little of the actual ceremony, choosing to keep her eyes on his face the entire time, not wanting to scan the crowd and see the one she knew would be there. She could not watch his heart break as "I do" escaped her mouth

Later, they were sitting at a table, watching the other couples twirl across it.

"May I borrow your wife for one last dance?" a familiar voice asked behind the newly married couple. Zelda's husband turned around to see who it was, but she didn't need to, knowing just by the voice. She hadn't heard that voice since that day three years ago when the council said they were never to see each other again.

They'd been right when they said Link was the catalyst for the princess's transformations. She had changed once since that day, on the next full moon.

_Flashback_

_I snarled at the men I could smell outside this cage and threw myself against the metal beams blocking my path. I yelped as I bounced off them and fell heavily back to the floor. Stubbornly, I tried again, with the same result._

_After a though inspection of the cell yielded no way out, I sat in the middle of the stone floor, staring out the barred window that let in moonlight. I tipped my nose to the inky sky and howled out my grief._

_I howled a weeping, keening cry of sorrow that filled the castle and made all who heard it pause and listen to my song. I howled until I could howl no more and spent the rest of the night with my nose under my paws, blocking out my surroundings._

_End flashback_

Zelda spent the night locked in that call, singing a lament to the heavens. She had been unable to transform ever again after that day.

"If you give her back at the end and she agrees," her new husband said.

"I will grant you the pleasure of one dance, Hero," the princess answered before Link could even ask.

He offered his hand, which she graciously took and led her out onto the floor. A waltz started up and he began to lead. He was surprisingly good dancer, considering he had no formal training.

"Where did you learn to dance like this?" she asked, ignoring the largest issue in favor of making small talk.

Link chuckled. "We have a dance in Ordon at the end of the harvest each year. If you can keep up with those steps, it's not too hard to learn these slower ones."

"Why are you here, Link?" Zelda asked, "we're not allowed to see each other anymore."

"I know," he replied, "As Hero, I was invited to your wedding, I'll leave as soon as it's over." He met the princess's eyes and sighed, "I wish you had chosen a different path those three years ago," he said softly.

"Hyrule needed me," she hastened to explain, "I had to rule. I just wish there was another way."

He made a gentle shushing sound, stopping her words. She knew him well enough to miss the finger that would have gone over her lips had they not been in the middle of a ballroom full of people. "It's alright princess," he assured her, "I told you then that I would understand whatever choice you made and I do. You don't need to explain to me."

"Do you love him?" he asked suddenly, after a short pause.

The princess shook her head, pulling herself out of thoughts of the past, nothing good lay that way. "I do not, but he will be a good king. I knew when I was young that I would not marry for love, this is the best I could have hoped for under the circumstances."

"I wish there had been another way," she whispered, almost apologetically, as the song came to a close.

"I know," he repeated, voice nearly breaking, "but this is the path we chose and we have to walk it now." The hero offered his arm and escorted her back to the table where her husband waited.

Link paused before she resumed her seat. He leaned in and his lips brushed very gently across her cheek, as if he was afraid she'd shatter if touched too hard. Zelda's eyes drifted closed, realizing this was the last time she would get to see him until they met once more in the Sacred Realms. The only way he would be allowed in the castle was if there was an event of such magnitude as to warrant the presence of the hero and there would be no more. Not until her funeral, if his did not come first.

When she opened them once more, Link was gone.

"What was that?" her husband asked as she sat once more, not angry, merely curious.

One hand reached up to touch the spot where Link had kissed her and a sad expression twisted her lips into a facsimile of a smile. "An old friend saying goodbye," she answered.


	2. Tetra: by transformation

**Just realized I forgot to say it in the last chapter: I do to the not-th degree own Legend of Zelda  
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><p>Link stopped his labors for a moment to wipe his brow and look around. The entire pirate crew, plus some recruits they'd picked up along their journey, were hard at work. Even their captain, who would cause great physical harm to anyone who dared to call her 'Zelda', was working alongside them, hard as anyone there. They were building houses out of wood from the marooned ship, while some of those who had weaving skill were twisting palm leaves to make roofs.<p>

The sun was starting to sink in the west, soon it would set completely, ceasing their work for the day. It became dark quickly in this new land where they'd wrecked. Link turned back to cutting the board in front of him to size before the orb sunk completely below the waves. Sure enough, not ten minutes passed before Tetra called out to everyone to stop. People finished whatever they were working on, hammering one last nail, setting one last board, stabilizing things so they didn't collapse during the night.

Link began to make his way through the small crowd to find where he'd left his stuff last night. A few shades had been set up to protect everyone from the weather and designated as sleeping areas.

He was stopped when a pair of hands, warmed by work and tanned by years in the sun, covered his eyes. "Where are you going, hero?" Tetra asked, "are you going to bed without even saying goodnight to me?"

"That might have been the plan," teased Link, making no move to remove her hands. He was tired, and it was starting to get cold now that the immediate warmth form the sun was deserting. This new land of theirs was a land of quick changes.

The pirate captain removed her hands from his eyes and slid around to stand in front of him. "And here I thought you cared," she said tauntingly.

"I do," assured Link, "but my bed sounds _so_ nice right now."

Tetra snorted and slid her hand into his. "Walk with me," she said, tugging his hand.

Link fell into step beside her, and they wandered in the same direction with that wordless understanding that old friends had. They left the thin strip of beach where everyone was milling and headed into the woods that bordered their little camp. They walked in silence, except once or twice when one of them stumbled over something that was hard to see in the fading light.

The darkness was probably why Link nearly walked into it. Tetra managed to spot it, and jerked to a stop, pulling him with her. It was a hunk of metal, half covered with vines and bearing spots of rust here and there.

"What is it?" the captain asked, dropping his hand in favor of circling their find.

Link wracked his memory, trying to remember if he'd seen something like this before. "I don't know," he confessed, "let's clear it off and see if it says anything."

The two of them set to work, tearing the foliage off the thing, until it was revealed. It looked like a box on wheels.

Tetra made short work of climbing in and looking around. "What does it do?" she wondered, studying the inside. Link climbed up beside her and looked around as well.

"What does this do?" he said, more thinking out loud than anything else. He tugged the lever in question and the box shook, then started moving very slowly forward. He jerked the lever back to its original position, halting the movement.

Tetra hopped out and examined the space where the box had been. "Link, look at this," she called back.

The hero stuck his head out, examining the strips of metal that had been revealed by the box's movement. "Let's keep going and see where it leads," he suggested, extending a hand to help the captain back into the box. She ignored it and scrambled back in herself, seizing the lever and yanking it before he could.

The box started moving again and Tetra jerked harder, pushing the lever all the way up. The box started moving faster. The box moved through the forest, following the metal tracks that wound across the floor. It was slow going, since they were pushing past vines, but steady. About halfway back to camp, Link found a button that lit up a light on the front of the box.

They nearly gave everyone a collective heart attack when they pulled up to camp, mostly because Tetra pulled a cord she'd found that caused loud noise to emit from the top of the box.

There were exclamations of surprise and astonishment and everyone swarmed them. It was figured out that this was called a 'train' and that the metal strips they hadn't been able to identify were 'tracks'.

They took that train all over their new land, finding secrets all over the place. The pirate captain nearly squeezed the life out of him when they found the old castle that only needed a few repairs. Tetra won the respect of all the people and gradually they cobbled together a kingdom from these scattered groups, uniting them into one great entity.

As the diplomatic duties became greater, Tetra stayed in the castle more and more. Eventually, the day came when she was crowned ruler of this new land. She protested, saying she didn't want a crown; but as the leader of the Gorons pointed out, people would listen to her more if she wore a crown and simply saying she didn't want it made them sure she would be a great ruler.

Their princess ruled well, listening to everyone's side and judging fairly. She ruled with an even hand and New Hyrule prospered under her guidance, but over the years, the feeling that something was horribly wrong snuck up on Link.

So he showed up at the castle one day with a proposition.

"Hey Tetra," he ventured, sticking his head around the door. The princess gave no sign that she had even heard him, leaving him time to take in what she was wearing. She was garbed in an ornate pink dress that his Tetra wouldn't have touched with a three-meter pole back when they traveled together. The feeling that something was wrong intensified.

"Tetra," he tried again. Again the princess ignored him. He sighed and called out a title he had hoped not to use. "Princess?"

This time, the pink-garbed girl looked up, meeting his eyes. "Yes Hero?" she asked. Her voice was dainty and her skin was getting pale, so unlike the bold, bronzed sea dog he'd known.

He grinned, hoping it would provoke a matching response, but no such luck. "I was just wondering if you'd like to get out of this castle for the anniversary celebration."

"I can't," she replied, "I have to lead the festivities."

"There's a new village being built in the Ocean Realm," he persuaded, "we could go swimming."

For a moment, interest sparked in her eyes. "Do you have a swimming costume?" she asked

"No, I was planning to go naked," he joked.

The Tetra he'd known would have laughed at that and teased him about giving people heart attacks if anyone saw him like that. The girl in front of him looked shocked.

"That would be improper," she said in a scandalized tone. She turned back to her paperwork, "If you have nothing else to say, I suggest you leave," she commented primly.

Link stood there with the sick feeling growing. For a moment, he stood rooted to the spot, staring at her like she'd grown a second head. Then he turned and let the door slam shut behind him. He stalked through the castle until he reached Castle Town, there he climbed up and found a place on the walls that was cast in half-shadow by the castle where no one would bother him.

No sooner had he found this spot than fireworks began to go off. New Hyrule was celebrating.

He set his head on his knees and mourned. He mourned a pirate captain with a brash voice and bronze skin. He wished to hear once more her laugh, bold as she was, or see her wink at him. He wanted her to play another trick on him or go walking through the woods without fearing to get her clothes dirty.

The hero mourned a pirate, while the rest of the kingdom celebrated their princess.


	3. Midna: by choice

**Any requests for who you'd like to see say goodbye next? Any confirmation that I'm not just talking to myself?**

**Anyway, I do not own LoZ, just copies of most of the games.  
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><p>Link hauled himself over the edge, grunting as he rolled to a stop on the roof. He'd seen a silhouette perched up here and surmised that it could be only one person.<p>

"Found you," he said, echoing the first time he'd ever seen her, picking himself up and dusting off his tunic.

"Yes you did," Midna replied, not looking away from Castle Town square below them, "but I didn't hide very well, did I?"

"You could have done better," the hero admitted. Link walked over and sat next to the Twilight princess and they watched the crowd below for a moment. Zelda was giving a speech about how peace had been restored and the Evil King who had taken over Hyrule for a time vanquished.

"Look at them," said the Twili, spreading out one hand to gesture at the massed people, "they have no idea what really happened."

"And they never will," Link finished, "it's best that way. They'll never know how close they came to being locked forever in twilight."

"But they'll never know what you did," Midna burst out, "You saved them all, and you'll never get any recognition for it."

The Hylian shrugged one shoulder. "I never really wanted to be a hero," he confessed, "what would they think if they knew they were saved by a dweller of the Twilight and Twilight's Blue Eyed Beast?" he shook his head. "No, it's better that they never know. The Twili will remember, and Zelda, and that's enough for me."

"You're close to Zelda?" the princess asked.

Link shrugged again, leaning back on his elbows and tipping his head back to study the stars. "Not particularly. She's a princess, I'm a farm boy."

"I'm a princess," Midna pointed out, as if he could forget this. Even as an imp, she'd had something regal about her. But now, in her true form, that indefinable something had bloomed into a full-fledged air of royalty.

"That's different," Link stated, "you were with me through all of my adventure."

"Yes, there's something bonding about cleaning monster guts off each other," Midna said sarcastically. Link threw back his head and laughed at that, an honest open laugh that transformed his face back to that of the innocent farm boy he'd been when this all began.

The princess of Twilight gazed at him for a moment, just looking with a expression on her face Link had never seen through their whole adventure together.

"I'm leaving, you know," she announced suddenly, looking away from him.

The hero nodded. "But you'll come back, right?" he questioned.

The Twili shook her head, robes rippling with the movement, "No, I'll go back to my world and close the portal for good. As the true ruler of the Twili, I can destroy it completely."

Link remained silent, part waiting for her to continue and partly too shocked to say anything.

"The mirror is too dangerous to leave as it is," Midna continued, "I can't leave an open portal. Not when it might lead to another Ganondorf. I can't put both worlds in danger just because I want to…" she trailed off, glancing sidelong at him.

"See me?" he guessed.

She nodded, not looking at him. The hero reached out and put a gentle hand under her chin, turning her head so he could meet her red eyes, so expressive now that he had learned how to read them.

"So stay here," he suggested.

Midna pulled back from his touch, looking away. "I can't," she said finally, "After Zant's defeat, there will be a power vacuum. I have to go back and rule my people, or they'll be worse off than before."

"I could come with you," Link suggested, "leave this world behind and go with you. Twilight's not too bad, after all. It's quiet and peaceful."

The Twilight princess made a motion with her head that was neither yes nor no. "It is, but how long would it take before you grew tired of it?" she asked, "How long before you grew to hate the black clouds that cover the sky? How long until you miss the stars, and the sun, and the rain, and the seasons, and all the things you've told me about? I know I'll miss them, but I'll get over it because I've lived my whole life in the Twilight. You've had your whole life to experience these things, you'll miss them a thousand times more."

"If you were there, I could handle anything," said Link, "I'd miss you most of all, if you were gone. I think I lo-" He was cut off as Midna placed a hand over his mouth.

"Don't say it," she instructed, "don't. If you say that to me, now, it will be even harder to leave. I have to leave, for the good of both worlds." Her eyes met his, pleading with him to understand. Under the strength of that, Link caved.

"It's true," Link said quickly when the princess removed her hand, "even if I can't say it, it's true."

She nodded, staring down at the crowd again. "I know."

The words they'd never said, and now never would, hung between them, two beings who loved each other. But when push came to shove they were from different worlds and they belonged in those worlds. As Midna would say, "light and shadow cannot mix".


	4. Navi: by failure

***checks mail* Nope, still don't own Zelda.  
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><p>"Ha!" Link shouted, lifting his sword into the air, "we've done it! Ganondorf is gone!" With no one to see him, the restored ten-year old started the victory dance he'd been holding back. It was rather spastic and something he would die of embarrassment from if anyone ever saw, but well earned.<p>

"Link," Navi sighed tiredly, "do you have to do that?"

The Korkiri replied without bothering to look at the fairy. "Of course, Navi, I've saved the world. I think I've earned the right to do as silly a victory dance as I want." He paused a moment, head tilted to one side, thinking. "Will save?" he ventured, "since it was the future?"

"Does it matter?" Navi asked weakly.

"No, I guess not," Link said cheerfully, shrugging. He started toward the passage to the Temple of Time proper, only to stop a few steps later as he realized the fairy wasn't following him.

"Navi?" he called, turning back. His eyes widened as he spotted his guardian lying on one of the steps leading up to the Master Sword.

"Navi?" he repeated, rushing back to her side. He carefully scooped her up with one hand, cradling her tiny weight to him very gently. Her ever-present glow was flickering, like a candle submitted to a harsh wind.

"Navi, what's wrong?" he asked urgently, balancing her miniscule form in cupped hands.

"Dark magic-too much," the fairy managed to get out. Her glow flickered as she spoke, "Ganondorf-too strong."

"No, Navi you can't die," he pleaded, "you can't. Not after everything we've been through. You have to come back to Korkiri with me so we can stay there and taunt Mido and play with Saria and everyone can finally see that I have a fairy and I'm one of them. You can't die."

Navi's glow steadied a moment as he said this, then flickered. "I wish-I could," she gasped, then paused as a violent fit of coughing wracked her frame, "but you don't—need me—anymore."

"Yes I do," Link insisted, "you're my guardian fairy, I can't go on without you!" His voice rose on that sentence, ending in a childish wail.

Navi fluttered her wings and managed to lift herself into the air, drawing on reserves of strength she didn't know she had. She fluttered up to his face and patted his cheek gently. "You'll do fine," she whispered, then turned and flew up, movements jerky but steadily gaining altitude, towards the windows set high into the wall.

She nearly fell out of the air several times, but held on, determined to reach the windows. She knew she was dying, Ganondorf's magic had taken root in her too deeply to be fixed by any means, and she was not about to submit a ten-year old to watching his companion die.

The forest child stood rooted to the spot, unable to do more than watch her go. She matched the height of the windows and wobbled over the sill through the decorative panes. She hovered for a moment, silhouetted by the sunlight pouring in, then her wings closed and she plummeted out of sight, dropping like a stone.

A howl of grief followed her out, seeming to shake the temple to its very roots. The scream of a boy forced into a role beyond his grasp, whose only link to the life he once led has now been savagely torn from his grasp. The scream of a child, made to grow up, whose mother-figure has failed her role.


	5. Ilia: by departure

**Still don't have the rights to LoZ.  
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><p>He said he would stay one day.<p>

When he got back from his adventure, he wanted to do nothing more than stay here forever, but force of habit had him packing the very next morning. Ilia arrived to wash Epona, and stopped him, telling him it was far too soon to leave. She made him promise to stay one day, only one day. He'd agreed, thinking there was no harm in staying a single day.

But one day turned into another and another and another. From time to time, the wanderlust, planted in him by his adventure, would rear its head and he would find himself comsidering saddling Epona for departure, but Ilia would always appear before he acted and he would stop and cave to whatever she wanted to do.

But every time they repeated this pattern, there was a moment when he wanted to just jump on Epona and take off, without supplies, just to feel the wind in his hair once more. He wanted, needed to be unrestrained and free. Ordon seemed to grow smaller and smaller, walls pressing in on him until he was choking, suffocating in this heavy blanket of a place he called home.

That was when he woke before sunrise, long before Ilia was up and saddled the mare, glancing constantly at the town, checking that no one was coming.

Shaking off the thoughts that intruded, he turned back to his task and, tightening the last of the straps, hefted his pack from where he'd dropped it earlier and fastened it behind the saddle. Epona stood patiently throughout this, having gotten used to the routine while they were traveling.

Finished with his task, he climbed up onto the mare and turned her head toward the path to Ordona's spring and the world beyond.

"Link?" asked a soft voice behind him.

Slowly the hero turned. He could and had faced giant monsters with ease, but he was dreading this conversation far more than any trap he'd faced.

"Ilia," he greeted.

"Where are you going?" the green-eyed girl asked curiously, stepping carefully toward him, "Are you going to visit the castle again?"

It would be easy, too easy, to say yes and just go. Spur Epona forward and never turn back. He could avoid this entire conversation, not have to look his childhood friend in the eyes and break her heart.

Link sighed and turned the mare fully, so he could look straight at the girl. He'd hoped to slip away without her knowing, but now that she was here, he would explain. She deserved better than a casual dismissal and false hope, he owed her that much, had loved her that much.

"No, Ilia, I'm not going to visit the castle," he replied.

She took in all his gear and the clothes he was wearing, and her eyes brightened in understanding. "You're leaving again," she said sadly.

He nodded mutely.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Hyrule needs me," he said simply.

"I need you," Ilia retorted, stepping closer and laying her hands on Epona's flank, gazing up at him with too-bright green eyes, "we need you, here. This place has been your home for years. Why does that have to change?"

"I don't belong here, Ilia," he confessed, "I'm not the person I used to be. I can't stay."

"But it's not fair!" she exclaimed childishly, "Isn't this enough?"

He reached down to cradle the side of her face in one gloved hand. "I know," he said sadly, "no one ever claimed it was. I wish I could stay, but I can't. Not anymore." Ilia closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, relishing this last contact, for both knew that was exactly what it was.

For an instant, he could see what his life would have been if he hadn't been chosen by the Goddesses for that crazy adventure. He would have stayed in Ordon and chased down the occasional goat that got out of its pen to laugh with Fado about it later. He would have taught the other children, and eventually his own, how to handle a sword. He would have married Ilia. He would have been happy.

His heart clenched and he closed his own eyes, wishing for a moment that he had never heard of the Triforce or explored the world outside this small haven he called home. He wished he could stay and be content here, even as he knew it could never happen.

"I have to go now," he said quietly, retracting his hand.

"One day?" she pleaded once more, gazing up at him with over-bright eyes brimming with unshed moisture, "stay just one day."

For a moment, his determination wavered, imagining a different result,then solidified and he shook his head. If he stayed another day, he would stay another, and another, and never leave, trapped in the too-perfect, too-calm contentment of home. If he stayed, he would sink back into that role, going through the motions of life but never truly living. He knew now how big the outside world was and staying here would like trying to wear too-small boots.

"I wish I could," he replied, turning Epona towards the path and the world beyond. He could feel the moisture gathering in his eyes and determinedly blinked it away, spurring Epona into a gallop. The wind rushed through his hair as his horse's hooves thudded against the ground, carrying him away from the brown-haired girl standing perfectly still at the entrance to the only place he'd ever called home with tears running down her cheeks.


	6. Fi: by sacrifice

**I actually wrote this before SS came out and recently dug it out and polished it, so I have no idea how close it is to the real ending.**

**If I owned Zelda, I would know how Skyward Sword ended. Since I don't know, I don't own.  
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><p><em>"Master?" Fi sounded almost timid.<em>

_The hero removed his hands from the door and turned to the spirit. Fi looked... nervous would be the best word for it. He nodded, gesturing for her to keep speaking._

_"Master Link, I calculate a 26% chance that you may be injured in the course of the battle to come," she babbled, "and I would like to impart some information before we enter."_

_Link nodded again, and Fi continued._

_"My purpose was to guide you in your quest, and I have, I believe the closest word would be enjoyed, doing so," she stated, "even though I am not programed to feel such..." _

_Link cut her off by reaching out and pulling the slender spirit into his arms, holding her tightly. She was startlingly solid for someone who regularly flipped in and out of the sword strapped to his back, but cold._

_"I calculate this is your way of communicating that you have also enjoyed the time we spent together," Fi said softly._

_Link squeezed his companion marginally tighter as affirmation, then released her. The sword spirit floated to hover by the door. "Shall we?" she asked._

_The hero nodded, and tugged on the door._

Ghirahim laughed, despite the sword now protruding from his abdomen. "You think you can defeat me with this?" he cackled.

Link looked over at his partner, confusion etched across his face. To his surprise, Fi did not look confused, only slightly mournful.

"It has power, yes, but such a slippery thing, power," Ghirahim continued, "you cannot possibly think this could be enough to defeat me?"

The demon lord lodged a hand on the hilt of the sword, fingers closing around it, and began to chant in a language so ancient that its very name had been erased. The diamond on the sword's hilt that had lit as the blade was filled with power flickered, dimming for an instant before coming back.

The sword spirit nodded once, decisively, then turned to him.

"Goodbye Master Link," she said simply, then lurched forward as though drawn by a rope. She disappeared with one final twirling flip, vanishing into the sword and lighting it with the brightness it always held when its spirit was within. The diamond on the hilt stopped flickering under the magics polluting it.

Ghirahim jerked his hand away from the blade as though burned. "How..." was all he managed to get out before he burst to black diamonds and flew apart, crumbling into nothing and leaving the sword to clatter musically to the floor.

A shimmer in the air appeared across the room and Zelda stepped through, accompanied a step later by the tall blonde woman who had protected her from the demon lord.

"Link!" the girl cried, rushing to her friend, "are you alright?"

He nodded wordlessly, staring at the sword, still expecting Fi to jump out and congratulate him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, turning her head to scan the room.

Link walked the few steps to his blade and lifted it. The slight heaviness to it told him Fi was still there, yet she still made no response. No shimmer through the blade precluding her arrival in the visible plane, no nothing.

"What is it?" the girl asked, laying a hand atop his on the sword, as though touch could communicate the words she wanted to hear.

"She is needed," the Sheikah stated.

Link started, he'd almost forgotten about the other person in the room, and turned to face the tall warrior.

"Ghirahim would have drained the sword had she done nothing," the Sheikah continued, "she bound herself to the sword to keep the power contained within."

"Who?" Zelda asked. Her question went unheard.

Link lifted the blade delicately, looking up at the Sheikah, to Zelda, trying to ask with his eyes what he could not say, wanting someone to answer.

"She cannot come unbound," the Sheikah answered quietly, "she knew the price of victory. It was what she was made for. That blade will be a weapon that legends are told about, able to be drawn only by the bravest of hearts, passed down from hand to hand, hero to hero, to defeat whatever evil plagues this land."

Link stared at her a moment longer, then his gaze fell once more to the sword. His eyes did not reflect the awe in the Sheikah's, only a horror. She did not know Fi, and could not grasp the magnitude of what the spirit had just done. He did not see a weapon, he saw a prison, built to hold his companion, she who loved to flip and twirl, she of the calculative mind.

She would be passed from hero to hero, all using her with no idea of what they truly held. No idea of the sentient being imprisoned with the steel, no idea of the sacrifice she had made, no idea that she had trapped herself forever, merely to create a weapon for their convenience.


	7. Aryll: by dreaming

**Much as I'd love to be a rito, I don't own the Great Sea or any other Zelda setting or characters.  
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><p><em>He was alone, adrift in the middle of a raging sea, unable to see more than a few meters in each direction. For a moment, he allowed himself to relax, thinking that a storm had sprung up while he'd been asleep and settling into the familiar habit of reaching for his sail and map to set a course to the nearest island. His fingers met empty air, and he looked down, frowning. The space where he stored his sailing equipment was empty, the wooden boards of King's hull starkly illuminated in the flash of lightening that abruptly split the sky from end to end.<em>

_"King, where are we?" he asked around teeth that chattered from cold and a sudden sense of dread. _

_There was no answer from the boat that had accompanied him throughout his entire quest. He crawled to the bow and peered around at the figurehead. It was still and wooden as that of a normal boat, eyes staring sightlessly off across the waves._

_He shivered, not entirely from the cold, and pulled his hat lower over his eyes, ineffectively shielding them from the rain that was pouring down in buckets and glanced around, trying figure out where he was_

_ Another flash of lightening caught his eye and he followed the light towards a darker mass, solid on the rolling waves of the storm. A silhouette, lit by the sky's rage, smiled at him, white teeth flashing and lifted a sword that glowed with evil power. He reached for his own sword in response, but his fingers closed once more through empty air._

_The figure did not move, but the boat drifted closer and closer on the tide, carrying him to his inevitable fate. The boat hit land and Ganondorf stepped closer, raising his sword. He raised his chin to stare straight into his enemy's empty eyes  
><em>

_The sword flashed in the lightning as it rose and descended, accompanied by a yell of sorrow, shock, and disbelief. "BIG BROTHER!"_

"Big brother!"

Link snapped awake, jerking upright as someone shook him. He blinked several times until his eyes cleared and the person doing the shaking came into focus. Aryll was standing over him, one hand still resting on his shoulder where she'd shaken him.

"Big brother," Aryll repeated, "are you alright? You were thrashing all over the place."

The Hero of Winds glanced around quickly as he forced his breathing back under control, checking his surroundings from force of habit. He was in his grandma's house, lying on the rug by the fire. The blankets on Aryll's bunk were hanging down from where she'd scrambled out, shielding his grandma's bed from sight. There were no monsters, no Ganondorf, no danger threatening.

He reached up and pulled his sister down next to him, hugging her tightly, reassuring himself that she was alright. He hadn't failed, she was safe, the Great Sea was safe and everything had returned to normal.

"I'm fine, Aryll," he reassured her quietly, "It was just a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she offered, voice slightly muffled from where her face was pressed into his shoulder.

Link shook his head and released her. "No, I'm fine. You can go back to sleep now. I'm sorry I worried you."

The blonde girl stood up and made her way back to her bunk, innocently reassured by him simply saying everything was fine.

He didn't sleep for the rest of the night, watching over the little girl he would and had crossed the seas for.

* * *

><p>He could see Aryll was getting worried. In her mind, her brother was back now, so everything should go back to normal. But if anything, it was getting worse.<p>

He still had trouble sleeping, waking her every night with his trashing and crying as his sleep was disturbed by the nightmares. She tried to wake him, and he tried to hide the panic in his eyes when he woke from dreams where monsters swarmed in seas of blood, lit by glistening arcs of his sword. Some nights he lost her, other times, it was others he'd met on his quest.

_He couldn't move, bound with chains stronger than iron, couldn't speak, could do nothing but watch. He had no choice but to watch helplessly as Ganondorf paraded them in front of him. _

_Delicate Medli, with her wings mangled beyond repair. _

_Komali, with his eyes filled with shadows. _

_Makar, wilting away slowly. _

_All the koroks, nothing but husks, often with burn marks.  
><em>

_The King of Red Lions even joined as nothing but a figurehead, a head served on a platter. _

_Tetra's crew, all the pirates, none with even a spark of resistance left. _

_Tetra herself, bound in iron chains. She looked up as she passed, the only one with gall enough to do so. "You!" she shrieked, "this is all your fault!" Her voice was directed not at Ganondorf, but at him. "We trusted you, and you failed us! How can they call you Hero when all you are is a little boy floundering around? You should have stepped down, let someone actually capable handle things! Anyone but a little boy!"_

_Ganondorf laughed, and reached behind him to drag out two limp bodies. The Evil King carelessly flung them forward to hit the ground in front of him. He could just make out their faces.  
><em>

_His grandmother and his sister.  
><em>

He'd put everything he'd gotten on his journey in the upstairs loft and no one was not allowed to go up there. He deflected questions about what had happened on his quest. All of Outset seemed to think it was a grand adventure, but all he wanted to do was forget.

* * *

><p>"Big Brother?"<p>

Link hummed to show he had heard her and patted the spot next to him. Aryll took the invitation, plopping down next to him and dangling her legs off the cliff edge.

"Big Brother, what's wrong?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Link replied, leaning back on his elbows to tilt his head back and stare at the stars that were just beginning to appear.

"It changed you," his sister answered, "the adventure."

He laughed, a hollow sound now. He hadn't laughed properly in months, since the first time he'd had to wrestle a bokoblin's own weapon away from it and bludgeon it to death with the stick. "Of course it did," he answered, "I'm the Hero of Winds now."

Aryll turned to fully face him then. "I wish I could fight your monsters," she told him seriously, "the ones that make you wake up trying not to scream."

"I wish you could too," Link agreed.

He started sleeping in his boat after that conversation, so she didn't have to wake when he started thrashing. The waves helped, reminding him of the peaceful nights, when he didn't have to fight.

* * *

><p>She woke one day with the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. A quick glance to one side showed her that his sleeping place was empty, as it had been since that day when they'd had the conversation on the cliff. He'd taken to sleeping in his boat, or in the loft when weather forced him to sleep inside. He said it helped with the nightmares.<p>

Aryll slipped out of her bed and walked outside to see if Link was up yet. The crisp dawn air chased away any sleepiness from her eyes that rubbing them missed. Her feet hit the wood of the docks and she looked up to find his boat was not docked in its usual place.

A small red vessel with a green-clothed figure inside was racing away from the island, already out of shouting range. Aryll ran to the end of the dock, nearly tripping on a small red object obviously left there for her. Her eyes filled with tears as she picked it up.

The girl sank to her knees, clutching the telescope to her chest. He never would have left it if he planned on coming back.


	8. Tatl: by paradox

**Please notice that while this collection is marked complete, it is not done. Each chapter can stand by itself, so it is always complete, but I will be adding more one-shots.  
><strong>

**Termina. Something else I don't own, along with anything and everything Zelda.**

* * *

><p>"Hey sis," Tael bumped into her to get her attention, startling her out of her thoughts, "you OK?"<p>

"I'm fine," the yellow fairy snapped, "just thinking."

Tael flung up his hands in surrender. "Whoa, no need to snap. You just looked like you were a million miles away." He squinted at her. "Are you sure you're OK? You don't look right."

What was she supposed to say to that? What answer could she give now that they could understand? The only person who might have understood had left not an hour ago with barely a goodbye to anyone. She'd gotten one only because she'd ambushed him just as he before he had a chance to leave.

* * *

><p>"So I'm finally getting rid of you," she noted, settling on the horse's head, only to jump back in the air as Epona twitched an ear.<p>

"Novel experience, I know," the green-clad boy replied, "bet you'll be glad to have me out of your wings at last."

"I'm not sure what I'll do without you," Tatl confessed in a quieter tone.

Link chuckled as he tightened the last few straps around Epona's middle. "You'll find something," he told her, "we only knew each other for three days, after all. How much could we have bonded in that short amount of time?"

She suddenly realized he was right. Their grand adventure, that had stretched across the entire country of Termina, and lasted several weeks, maybe months; had taken place in the span of only seventy-two hours.

"It feels like longer than that," she replied finally.

He chuckled again. "Crisis has a way of doing that," his voice was terribly bitter, as though he spoke from poignant experience, "making you think time lasts longer than it does. But when the end comes and everything is restored, you find that it all seems like a dream and those who were clustered around you go their own way."

He looked down, he who had faced down monsters by the hundreds, who had stared down Death and never blinked, now not quite able to meet her eyes. "No one ever stays," he admitted softly.

"Link," the fairy began. He rarely told her anything personal, that might make him appear anything less than perfectly strong, and she had grown to cherish those small bits of precious information. She knew whta it must have cost him to tell her that.

"It's okay Tatl," the boy said. Some might call him a hero but right now he was only a boy, lost, lonely, and far from home. "You have your friends back. That was the whole purpose. Our deal is finally complete and now you can get back to your life."

She sucked in a breath, suddenly realizing he had always been planning to leave. She had completely forgotten the deal she'd half-jokingly struck at the beginning of the first cycle, that she would help him if he helped her return to her friends. It had taken days for him to tell her anything about himself, and only now was she figuring out the reason.

"Link," she tried again, "stay."

He shook his head. "I can't. I have things I need to do too."

"More lands to save?" she asked, almost joked, trying desperately to relieve the bitterness of this moment.

"Something like that," Link answered cryptically, tugging the strap to be sure it was tight. Apparently satisfied, he turned around to face her properly.

"I could come with you," she offered. She knew she seemed desperate now with such an offer, but she _was_ desperate. Tael and SkullKid could never understand what she'd been though-what _they'd_ been through, and after that, after an adventure filled with things she could never explain, how could she waste her days away with foolish children's games? How, having seen the limits of where it was possible to go, could she return to that simple existence? "Let me come with you," the fairy pleaded.

Again, the blonde head shook in a negative response. "No, Tatl," he said gently, "You've worked so hard to save this land, you should enjoy it. Go to the Carnival, forget about me. I don't belong here, you do."

She landed on his shoulder and folded her wings. "But I don't want to forget," she whispered, just loud enough that his sharp Hylian ears could pick it up.

He sighed sadly. "I know, but you'll only drive yourself mad remembering," he warned her, "What use is it to speak up if no one else remembers anything? It's the worst form of torture there can be."

"We saved them all!" she burst out suddenly, "we should be getting medals or something, not forced to forget it ever happened!"

He picked her up and moved her off his shoulder, leaving her to take wing again, then turned and mounted his horse. "Look at it this way," he said, "at least this adventure happened."

For a moment, she could only blink as her mind processed that, and by that time he was already starting forward. She hurried to keep up. "What does that mean?" she demanded.

Link turned to look at her and smiled. His smile was full of sad secrets, of years and battles fought and won, that weighed so heavily that a few weeks of the greatest adventure of her life were but nothing in comparison. He smiled, and then turned wordlessly forward and kicked Epona into a gallop, quickly leaving her behind.

* * *

><p>"Sis?" Tael repeated anxiously.<p>

There was nothing she could say that might make them understand, absolutely nothing, not without putting them through everything she'd been through, all the people and places she'd met and been. And that was simply impossible.

Just as impossible as time travel.

So she drummed up a wide, carefree smile, the kind she used to wear before everything and nothing changed and her world turned upside-down and opened up, and pasted it on. "Of course I'm fine," she told the purple fairy, "Why wouldn't I be? It's only been three days, after all."


	9. Zelda II: by love

**Yes, it's Zelda again, even though it's really not Zelda that the goodbye is to. I still own Legend of Zelda just as much as I own a ticket to Hyrule, which is to say, not at all.**

* * *

><p>She was standing in front of the mirror when he let himself in, resplendent in a gown of white silk that brushed the floor and swished around her ankles as she moved slightly from side to side. Her hair flowed down her back in shining waves and it was easy to see why she was called the most beautiful woman in Hyrule. Most would kill for a chance at what lay reflected in the mirror before her, but that was not what he had come for.<p>

"Zelda, in all my time as hero, you know I have never asked you for anything," he began, "I have never abused my position by troubling you with personal favors. But I will ask this one thing, though I will ask it only once. If you refuse me, I will understand and I will never ask again."

He waited a moment, as she slowly raised her eyes to meet his in the mirror. Finally, she nodded, indicating for him to continue. "Please, release me from the oath I swore to you."

She moved to the window, the white silk of her dress rustling as she moved, and gazed out, unable to meet his eyes. "I cannot do that," she replied softly, "any other request I could have granted, but the one thing you desire is the one thing I cannot grant."

"You will not grant it, you mean," Link accused, "you are Princess here, and your word is final, no matter what the council says. If you said it, it would be done, and none could undo it."

Still, she did not move to meet his stare, continuing to gaze out the window. "You know I cannot go back on my word now. I cannot appear weak in front of my people." Her tone shifted, "You could leave, and go to her," she offered, "it might bring shame to me in front of the entire kingdom, but at least you would be happy."

"My oath of fealty will not allow me to make a mockery of my princess," the hero answered stiffly, "and you are well aware of that, _your highness_." The title was tacked on almost as an afterthought. They had been beyond titles for a long time now.

Zelda nodded, the movement so slight most people would have missed it. "How did we get to this, Link?" she wondered aloud, "Why did we even begin down this path?"

He remained silent, knowing she did not require an answer, just the opportunity to voice her thoughts.

"How did we get in so far the only option is to proceed with a marriage neither of us want?" she asked softly.

"Because it was easy," the hero replied, "because a mistake, when left uncorrected and passed from mouth to mouth, becomes truth."

"We can get out of this," Link offered, something dangerously like hope threading through his voice, "there is still time to make an announcement. Tell everyone."

The princess, soon to be queen, shook her head and finally turned away from the window. "My hold on the kingdom is fragile enough as it is. I fear any more will be the straw that breaks the camel's back."

"I do not love you," the hero told her, as though this mattered now when they were so close to the crux of things, "I never will."

"Never is an awfully long time," Zelda said in a voice that was barely above a breath, "far longer than forever, but I understand what you mean." She had never been under any illusions that she would love her husband, but he had once had the option of falling in love.

"Nor I you," she replied in a louder tone, "I am not blind Link."

"Did you ever even care for me?" he asked, "or did you just use me?"

She cast her eyes downward to examine the dainty shoes she wore for this day, and that was answer enough. "We used each other, Link," she replied at last, "I could hurl at you the same accusations and it would not change the position we find ourselves in."

"You will hold me to it still," he asked one last time, ignoring her last comment, "an oath sworn in a moment of foolishness? It should never have been sworn. We both know that."

"I can make no other choice, not without losing my kingdom," she replied quietly, "and we are both well aware of that."

Two sets of shoulders sagged under the weight of that knowledge and the air was thick with silence for a long moment. "I could cast an enchantment on myself," Zelda offered, breaking the silence, hand already moving toward her face, "you could see her when you look at me."

He seized her wrist with enough force that it was almost painful, stopping the motion. "You will do no such thing _highness_," he spat the title, "I will not betray her like that. I will see you, and know exactly what I am doing. I will marry you because I made an oath and because it will never be said the Hero does not keep his word, not because you can make yourself look like the only one I will ever love. I will have the real thing or I will not have her at all, no pale shadow that you could ever conjure up would ever match her."

He caught her eyes and held them for a long minute, then Zelda sighed and dropped both her gaze and her hand. "Very well," she answered, "let us proceed then."

She took the arm he so chivalrously offered, though neither even bothered to attempt a smile, straightened her back, and together they walked out of the doors.


	10. Medli: by calling

**Medli's always been one of my favorites, though you'd never be able to tell by this, and Hakimu requested her a while back, so here she is. Happy Halloween. **

**I own neither the Great Sea nor Legend of Zelda.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Medli!" he called cheerfully, heaving at the huge door that barred his way, "I brought you something!" She likely couldn't hear him through the stone monstrosity, but he felt better calling to her.<p>

"Medli!" he called out in a sing-song, finally triggering the door mechanism, "hello?"

The door slid open and he scampered under it before it could change its mind and drop on top of him. No matter how many of those doors he went through, he always worried it was going to fall on his head.

The rito girl stood exactly where she'd been when he'd left her, eyes closed, plucking the Earth God's Lyric on her harp. For a moment, Link let his eyes drift closed as he got lost in the music, but when she started the song again, his eyes snapped open.

"You get a lot of practice on that?" he asked, approaching with one hand still hidden behind his back, "it sounds great."

She made no response, just kept on playing.

"Look what I got you!" the hero exclaimed, drawing his hand from behind his back with a flourish. Golden feathers gleamed in his grasp and he presented them to her proudly.

"You have no idea how long it took me to collect this many," he continued, remembering with a wince the scratches the long-tailed birds had given him to remember them by.

Red eyes blinked slowly opened, though her fingers never hesitated in their playing, and fixed on him.

"Do you like them?" he asked.

Still, there was no sound other than her music. The Lyric, played over and over again, bounced off the walls and reverberated back again, giving the illusion that there were many players, an entire chorus, rather than just one.

"Medli?" Link asked, starting to become worried. He waved his free hand in front of her face and when she didn't blink, let the gift fall so he could wave both frantically.

Her eyes never even adjusted the least bit, even when he brought a fist within an inch of her skin, as though she was looking through him, watching something far in the distance

Suddenly, Link had never been so sick of a song. "That's enough," he growled, and tried to pull the harp from her grasp.

He gripped the harp and yanked as hard as he could, but it was like trying to relocate an island with his bare hands.

Disbelievingly, the hero looked from his hands to the harp, then tried again.

He tried to tap her shoulders, pull her hair, anything, even growing so desperate as to pull out the Master Sword and try to reach her with that. No matter how hard he pushed or what he used, nothing affected her. Even when he chopped down as though he was going to slice her from head to feet, with enough force to cleave a Moblin in half, the sword simply bounced off her and went flying across the room to clatter against a wall.

Finally, he sat at her feet, leaning against her legs, golden feathers drifting around him, and talked to her. He told her everything that had happened since he'd last seen her, from how disgruntled the King of Red Lions had looked when Makar chose to sit on his head to the wizard-thing and giant statues he'd fought in the Wind Temple.

"Please come back to me," he whimpered, "please don't leave me. You're one of the only people who understands."

At last, he had to leave, but not before he promised to come back.

* * *

><p>The next time he visited, he was shaking. He didn't even bother with trying to stop her playing, just sat down again and leaned against her. There was no give at all, it was like leaning against a statue. The only thing that remained the same was the warmth. She was still as warm as she'd been when he carried her through the temple.<p>

"I went to see Maker," he said at last, "my fingers went right through him. He didn't see me, or acknowledge me, or anything."

Link twisted to look up at her closed eyes. "Am I doing the right thing?" he wondered aloud, "you had to sacrifice everything for this quest. Is it right to continue if the price is so high?"

The only reply he got was another round of the Lyric.

* * *

><p>"Why did they choose me?" he yelled. The anger, burning with a white-hot heat in his chest was so great he thought it was going to burn a hole in him if he didn't move, so he paced back and forth in front of her, the words drowning out the ever-present, persistent music.<p>

"Why did they create such a horrible system!" he screamed, "is Ganondorf really important enough to cost the Sea them both?!"

Abruptly, he spun around to address her. "Answer me!" he roared at the rito girl.

There was no reply, and his vision tinted red. He was sick and tired of 'Hero do this' and 'Hero do that' and never any thanks and every good thing he got always being snatched away. He flew at her, fist flying towards her face.

It was like hitting a stone wall.

The anger drained from him like he had punched a hole in his own head, letting the rage drain out and leaving guilt and revulsion in its place.

"Oh goddess, Medli, I'm so sorry," he wailed, clutching his stinging hand. Link wrapped his good arm around the red-head and sobbed into her shoulder. Tears of sorrow, but also guilt and fear and pain dripped down his face, rolling off her and staining the stone floor dark.

Heroes didn't cry, so maybe he wasn't a hero.

* * *

><p>"I'm going to fight Ganondorf," he told her wearily, trudging across the floor to flop at her feet. He had long since given up on getting a response from her, but he continued to talk with hopes that maybe she could hear him. It helped, having this one place and one person where he didn't have to be the Hero, could be weak and small and the little boy people had once mistaken him for.<p>

It was almost sad, that the only one he trusted enough to confide in was someone who may as well be a stone statue.

Medli continued playing, fingers never pausing on the strings, eyes closed. If he squinted and forgot that she'd been like this for weeks, almost months now, she looked peaceful.

He peeled off his hat and used it as a pillow, head twisted slightly to watch her.

"They call me the Hero of the Winds now," he commented idly. He pretended that the music changed slightly, lifting in a question or expression of interest.

"I found the Triforce of Courage," the hero continued, lifting the hand to examine the mark in question, "it was ridiculously hard and I never want to see Tingle again."

In his head, he imagined that the music shook, a laugh in the form of notes.

He felt the corners of his own mouth lifting in response and sat there in silence for a while, content to let the music flow over him, soothing and gentle.

"I'm sorry Medli," he whispered, timing it as she paused between the end of one repetition and the beginning of the next so his voice was the only sound in the chamber.

Eyes the same shade as the sunset over the open water slowly opened and he thought he might have glimpsed a bit of sadness and maybe a sliver of forgiveness in those orbs.

"I'm going to fight Ganondorf now," he repeated at last, talking to the ceiling rather than her face, unable to meet those horribly blank eyes.

There was no response, but he hadn't expected one either.

He heaved a sigh and got up from the floor, scooping up his hat and dusting it off. "Wish me luck?" he asked, with perhaps a bit more cheerfulness than he felt, when they were on eye level once more.

Medli's eyes drifted closed again, and he imagined a slight nod in the motion.

"I'll come back for you," he swore, "after Ganondorf has been defeated."

* * *

><p>A single feather floated in the center of what had once been the entrance to the Earth Temple. He stood perched on the edge of the hole, water lapping at the soles of his boots. As he watched, horror closing thick fingers of realization around his windpipe, it dipped below the sea's surface, seized by unseen currents.<p> 


End file.
